


always bright (when you whisper ‘goodnight’)

by jjokkiri



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-15
Updated: 2019-05-15
Packaged: 2020-03-05 17:34:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18833434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jjokkiri/pseuds/jjokkiri
Summary: Lee Wonhee breaks the heel of her shoe and takes a fall. Somewhere along the way, she falls in love, too.





	always bright (when you whisper ‘goodnight’)

Familiarity was everywhere whenever she walked down this road; from the cracks in the sidewalk to the repeated pattern of her heels clicking against the pavement.

This was a daily pattern for Lee Wonhee. Waking up every morning was the beginning of a typical pattern - getting dressed in pretty clothing and then walking to the bus stop. Her day ended when the clock struck five hours past noon - work finished, then. Then, it felt like a reverse of her morning - a trip back to the bus stop and then a short walk back to her apartment.

Unlike her usual monotonous pattern, though, today was a little bit different.

Today, the wobbly heel of her shoes finally gave in. She stumbled, falling forward onto the pavement when the heel collapsed beneath her weight and snapped.

She gasped, a sharp pain digging into the palm of her hand when she braced her fall against the rough cement. There was a stinging pain where the scrape of the pavement dug into the base of her palm, drawing blood. Wonhee hissed, quickly scrambling to her feet as she kicked her heels off to check the damage. Her immediate instinct reacted; cautious eyes scanned her surroundings to make sure no one saw her fall.

She was unlucky, today.

A curious girl sat perched atop the brick half-wall to her side. They made eye contact - the girl had been watching her the entire time. She wore a white sundress and her dark hair was tied down into two low pigtails - her feet were bare. There was a boyish charm to the girl, but she looked graceful even as she jumped down from the ledge.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

Wonhee sighed, grasping at the heel of her shoe and frowning.

“I’m fine,” she replied. “But, my shoe might not last very much longer.”

“Do you have far to go?” she asked, tilting her head in curiosity. In response, Wonhee turned to look to where her apartment building towered from behind the brick half-wall spiraling up the hill. The girl followed her gaze, “Just over there?”

“Not too far,” she answered. Then, she sighed, “I guess I’ll just have to walk barefoot.”

The girl shook her head, immediately, “No!”

“No?” Wonhee looked at her, confused. A small, sheepish smile appeared on the girl’s face. She shrugged, a small action that shoved her sudden reaction to the side. Wonhee watched her with curious eyes, confusion colouring her expression. The girl reached into the small messenger bag slung over her shoulder, pulling out a pair of white flats.

“These are mine,” she said, holding them out to Wonhee. “They look like they’ll fit you. I’m used to walking around without shoes on, but you’re going to burn your feet in this kind of heat.”

Wonhee hesitated, unsure of what to make of the offer from a complete stranger. The girl seemed to take Wonhee’s silence as a refusal. She frowned, her hands lowering for a moment.

“My name is Yeoju,” she said, her voice soft and musical. “I’m not trying to hurt you. I’m just trying to help because I couldn’t help but notice that you look sad and tired. You shouldn’t put yourself through physical struggles, too. Especially, not when you’re so exhausted.”

Her eyes brightened when Wonhee sighed and reached for the shoes.

“Thank you,” she said, softly. “Thank you for your kindness, even though you don’t know me.”

Yeoju beamed, nodding her head. Her eyes seemed to glitter with an inexplicable happiness, as if the simple acceptance of the shoes were enough to make her entire lifetime.

“Kindness is a gift in a society like this,” Yeoju answered, nodding her head in agreement. Yeoju’s eyes scanned Wonhee’s figure for a split second - a glimmer of admiration - before she tore her eyes away and continued to speak. “It’s hard to find, these days.”

Wonhee smiled, bitterly, “It’s unfortunate.”

Yeoju nodded her head, humming softly as she turned to look at the sky. Her hands were clasped behind her back, the thin material of her white dress fluttering in the gentle breeze like the fragile flower petals hanging from the branches above them.

“You seem like a kind person,” Yeoju remarked, smiling up at the sky.

Wonhee tilted her head, considering the words, “A kind person?”

She couldn’t argue it, but it felt strange to acknowledge Yeoju’s words. It always felt strange to acknowledge a compliment, after all. Wonhee offered an awkward smile in response, unsure of what to say to her. Yeoju took the minimal reaction in stride, unfazed by Wonhee’s reaction - or lack thereof. The girl seemed to be unbothered by everything around her; _peculiar._

Then, she held out a slender hand to Wonhee, “Will you let me show you something?”

She smiled, her eyes bright with a childish mirth - something entirely trusting and honest; _pure_. It was a brilliant glimmer of joy, something Wonhee hadn’t seen in much too long. _It was something Wonhee wished she could still see in herself when she looked in the mirror._

There was a draining aspect to living the dull office life. Something about it was too repetitive, too monotonous. It was once something Wonhee dreamed of - to be dressed up nicely and working in a serene office environment. And it was something like the stories she heard about falling in love - falling so hard for the idea of something and blinding yourself from everything negative, until it hits you hard. Dreaming of this kind of life, when she was younger, was too much like falling in love in that way; scaling up to a peak with the inevitable fall awaiting her. Back then, it never occurred to her that it could be so draining.

But, there was a life in the girl’s eyes when she offered her hand to Wonhee, pretty eyes glittering with a type of bliss which she missed seeing in her own eyes. It was childish and pure. Wonhee found herself captivated by Yeoju’s eyes.

Along with that captivating glimmer in Yeoju’s eyes, Wonhee found herself in a position where she couldn’t turn down the hand she offered to her.

She took it, throwing caution to the wind. _This was different._

She followed her.

_A breezy summer night and a strange girl in a pretty white dress._

_What danger could a girl like this be?_

 

 

 

As strange as the girl herself, what Yeoju wanted to show Wonhee was a cliffside.

Walking with the younger girl to the edge of the cliffside was a different kind of experience, but peaceful. It was a silent sort of calm - _a moment to breathe._ She was walking with a stranger, wearing said stranger’s shoes, and the girl looked entirely too happy to be accompanied by someone. It was almost as if Yeoju didn’t talk to people, often.

Wonhee never saw her around, prior to this encounter, either.

The girl broke Wonhee’s train of thought with her soft voice and a bright smile.

“It’s breathtaking, isn’t it?” Yeoju asked, eyes sparkling as she gestured for Wonhee to look down at the city lights. From a higher place, everything looked so much less monotonous.

This was the city she grew up in - the city she worked in and the city she did everything in. This was the city that had suddenly become monotonous to be in. But, when she looked at it in a different perspective, everything seemed so much more different.

Everything about the world around her - it seemed to be different, when she was around Yeoju. There was something about the girl that made everything feel a little more _magical_. Wonhee dared to let herself think a little more childishly, standing next to Yeoju.

For a first meeting, Wonhee felt strange being so calm around the girl. But, Yeoju was cherubic - an impossible, childlike innocence. Wonhee couldn’t resist the urge to smile around her. If she had her guard up around the girl, for any reason at all, it was as if Yeoju could dispel it all with a single, sweet smile. Wonhee couldn’t understand the effect the girl had on her.

She didn’t hate it, she decided.

Wonhee tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, eyes staring down at the emerging twinkle of lights across the Seoul skyline. It was late in the afternoon and the sun was slowly beginning to set on the horizon, leaving the sky to paint itself in pinks and oranges. From the cliffside, the beginnings of the city lights illuminating the city cast a gentle glow to the darkened streets beneath them; dim against the setting sun, but breathtaking nonetheless.

“It’s beautiful,” she replied, softly.

“I come here when I need to breathe,” Yeoju said, smiling. She turned her head, looking at Wonhee, “I’m sharing my special place with you. You look like you need it.”

Wonhee tilted her head, “What do you mean?”

“A place to breathe,” Yeoju replied, nodding her head as if certain of her words. “The world gets boring. We’re always doing the same things, over and over. It gets boring. When you can look at things from a different perspective, things get a little clearer.”

Hands clasped behind her back, Yeoju took a breath - eyes fluttering shut as she inhaled. She looked at peace, ever so childish and filled with an endearing joy.

“If you have a place to escape to,” she continued, gesturing to the space around them.

_A quiet, isolated cliffside - it seemed perfect to be deemed an ’escape from reality’._

“Then, it will always feel like you’re coming back with a clearer head. If things ever get dreary for you, it would be nice for you to smile.”

The girl stopped, lips curving into a small grin. Her eyes fixed themselves on the way Wonhee’s glittering eyes were focused on the lights beneath them, bright with wonder and mirth.

“ _Just like you are, now.”_

 

 

 

The small space of her office cubicle was still small and crowded with endless stacks of papers but, for once in much too long, Wonhee was smiling when she sat down at her desk. Entirely unfocused on her work, Wonhee rested her chin in her palm and she stared at the cubicle divider in front of her. _Daydreaming._

It attracted the attention of her coworkers.

It wasn’t that Wonhee was unpleasant when she was at work. No, Wonhee was undoubtedly the joy of the office - pretty and hardworking; she was nothing short of being the dream employee. But, the atmosphere seemed lacking without the girl’s fingers clicking against the keyboard of her laptop, furiously typing up client reports.

Unable to keep curiosity to himself and unable to keep his mouth shut, the first person who dared to bring it up was her supervisor. He shared a cubicle space with her - reasonably, his attention would be the first to be caught when Wonhee’s attention strayed.

“Are you sick?” Chae Hyungwon, her supervisor, asked. His brows were furrowed in concern as he slid over to her on his swivel chair.

Wonhee wouldn’t have noticed Hyungwon speaking, if he wasn’t right beside her. The girl jumped in surprise, shaken out of her thoughts.

“Sorry, were you talking to me?” she said, eyes wide in surprise. She smiled, sheepishly.

“No,” Hyungwon replied, rolling his eyes. The man didn’t miss a beat in formulating a sarcastic response to her remark. “I was actually talking to your imaginary friend over there.”

Surprised, Wonhee glanced back at the wall (half-expecting to see Yeoju) before she realized Hyungwon was being sarcastic. The girl clasped her hands together in her lap, embarrassed.

Hyungwon frowned, “Are you okay?”

Wonhee laughed, a little nervously, “Yes, of course. I’m just a little distracted today, it seems.”

“The whole office has noticed,” Hyungwon told her. “You walked into the office today with your head in the clouds and you’ve been giggling to yourself for the majority of the morning.”

“I have?”

Hyungwon sighed, “You have.”

“Strange,” she mused. Hyungwon arched a brow.

“You’re telling me?” he asked, disbelief colouring his tone. “This isn’t like you. It’s like you’ve been changed into a completely new person.”

Wonhee laughed, “Ridiculous.”

Hyungwon narrowed his eyes, “That’s exactly what an alien replacement would say. Tell me: have you kidnapped Wonhee and locked her in some faraway closet? _Are you even Wonhee?”_

Wonhee’s lips pursed into a small smile; mischievous. She shook her head, her attention turning itself back to her laptop. Her small smile never faded as she hummed, the image of Yeoju’s bright eyes by the cliffside never leaving her mind.

“Who knows,” she replied. “Maybe.”

 

 

 

“And he said I was acting differently!” Wonhee exclaimed, shaking her head in disbelief, “I might have been spacing out, but I don’t think I was acting very differently at all. I’m just me!”

With the sunlight, slowly fading beyond the horizon, streaming through the window, Wonhee’s soft features were illuminated with a gentle glow. She was leaning against her windowsill, looking out the open window at her new friend. Yeoju was outside, sitting across from her, perched comfortably on a sturdy tree branch across from Wonhee’s window. For a girl wearing a light, flowing dress, Yeoju was certainly fond of effortlessly climbing trees.

The girl looked peaceful on the tree branch. Wonhee could never imagine being at ease from such a height. Still, she brushed off the thought - Yeoju looked happy.

“Some people only start to notice little things when they change for the better,” Yeoju replied, shrugging. Her reaction was nonchalant, but her eyes seemed to twinkle with amusement. “Maybe it’s weird to him that you were smiling at work.”

Wonhee scoffed, “I always smile at work.”

“Were you happier, today? You were spacing out, after all,” Yeoju said. Wonhee pursed her lips.

“Maybe,” she answered, shrugging. She tucked her hair behind her ear, pondering the thought.

Yeoju laughed, a tinkling sound. “What was on your mind that had you so happy?”

Suddenly, Wonhee felt shy to admit that her mind had been on Yeoju when she was at work. The simple thought of the petite, cheerful girl drew a smile to her face. She couldn’t help it. But, to admit it aloud felt oddly embarrassing. Worse, to admit it aloud to the girl herself. Wonhee shrugged her shoulders, nonchalant. She pretended she didn’t hear the question.

Yeoju didn’t push her to answer the question.

“Are you cold out there?” Wonhee asked, after a moment.

Yeoju shook her head, serene smile on her lips.

“It’s not cold, today,” she replied. She waved a hand childishly in the open air, as if gesturing to the lack of strong breezes. Yeoju beamed, “Besides, I feel warm when I see you.”

Wonhee’s chest exploded in a sudden burst of butterflies.

 

 

 

It turned out there was a danger to Yeoju after all.

She followed Wonhee with delicate footsteps, hands folded carefully behind her back. Despite the soft, delicate footsteps against the pavement, there was a soft, endearing skip to every step she took - something that made the girl feel so _magical_.

Wonhee couldn’t exactly pinpoint what she felt when she looked at Yeoju, but perhaps, _safety_ was the closest she could get to describing it. There was something about Yeoju that made Wonhee feel like nothing could go wrong - no matter how terribly her day went at work, somehow, everything would end up perfectly fine, as long as she believed it would.

 _It was childish, but it was purely hopeful._ And that pure, childish hope was something Wonhee craved for her own heart to resort to when she felt lost. It had been too long since she’d felt the little glimmer of hope, somewhere deep inside of her. _Yeoju brought it back to her._

And there was something which fluttered in Wonhee’s mind when Yeoju laughed (“Have you never stopped to look up at the sky for just a moment?” she asked, her tone sounding incredulous but her voice sounding so soft). As if thinking of Yeoju’s words, the older girl marvelled over the cherry blossoms above them and Yeoju smiled as she watched her.

Wonhee exhaled softly, stopping to look up at the flowers, “It’s been years since I’ve stopped to look at the cherry blossoms,” she admitted. “I’ve been too occupied with going to and from work. I didn’t have the time to just stop and look.”

“It’s nice to finally stop, right?” Yeoju asked, halting her own footsteps to look up. Her hands stayed clasped behind her back as she spun in a small circle to look at their surroundings. “It’s like that one famous quote that tells you to stop and smell the roses, sometimes!”

“Yeah,” Wonhee nodded her head. She pushed her bangs out of her eyes, adjusting the strap of her purse on her shoulder, “It feels weird to know that I’ve been missing out on something so pretty, because I was so busy with life.”

“Life gets in the way of all the best things,” Yeoju answered, nodding her head. Wonhee laughed, shaking her head.

“It really does.”

And for a moment, there was a comforting silence between them. The whistle of the gentle breeze filled the empty spaces and they looked at the flowers in silence; delicate and bright above them.

Yeoju broke the silence after couple silent seconds of admiration. Her eyes rested on Wonhee’s figure.

“And for the record, Wonhee?”

Wonhee hummed in acknowledgement, urging Yeoju to continue speaking as she looked at the cherry blossoms. Yeoju tilted her head, smiling.

“I think you’re prettier.”

And Wonhee swore her heart stopped when she turned to look at Yeoju, afternoon sunlight casting a delicate glow from behind the girl’s silhouette.

_Yeoju was dangerous, but only to Wonhee’s heart._

 

 

 

Yeoju took Wonhee to places she’d seen a million times over. But, every moment with Yeoju felt like a new experience. No matter where she went with the girl, it seemed like everything around her turned into something she was seeing for the first time. And every moment with Yeoju made her feel like she was looking at the girl for the first time - fascinated and enchanted by her smile.

They were standing on the pedestrian bridge overlooking the river. Yeoju sat atop the rail, feet dangling over the water. They were high up and if Wonhee hadn’t seen Yeoju effortlessly climb trees before, she might have been too concerned about the girl’s safety to focus on anything else. Still, she couldn’t help but voice her worry.

“Be careful,” she replied, “You might fall. I don’t know what I would do. I can’t swim very well.”

Yeoju turned to her, eyes bright with mirth. She laughed.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “I’m good at climbing.”

Wonhee shook her head, smiling softly. She couldn’t ever argue with the younger girl. There was something about Yeoju that made it impossible to argue with her. She had an insistent childishness to her. To argue with her felt like depriving a child of something they really wanted.

“I like being high up,” Yeoju said, smiling as she leaned back against the rail of the bridge.

“I don’t,” she said, quietly. “I’m afraid of heights.”

Yeoju turned her head, frowning slightly.

“But, I always take you to these kinds of places,” she said, softly. “Do you hate it?”

Wonhee shook her head, shrugging.

“It’s okay when I’m with you,” she answered. “I don’t feel as scared when I’m with you.”

“Are you sure?” Yeoju asked. “You can be honest with me, you know?”

Wonhee nodded. She smiled, “I promise I’m okay with it.”

_Besides, how else would I deal with what I feel when I’m with you, if I was too afraid of heights?_

(And Wonhee’s heart almost couldn’t take it when Yeoju held out her finger for a pinky promise, eyes twinkling brilliantly.)

 

 

 

Wonhee’s supervisor, Hyungwon, quickly became acquainted to the tiny, fair girl who liked to run around without shoes on. Endearingly, he referred to the bubbly girl as _‘that weird girl who doesn’t own shoes’_. He was always the first to notice when Yeoju was somewhere near the office building. Jokingly, he always said he felt a chilling shiver down his spine whenever the girl was around. Wonhee pushed him each time, rolling her eyes; _Yeoju was an angel._

Yeoju and Hyungwon happened to meet for the first time when Yeoju was waiting for Wonhee outside of the office with a cutely packaged lunch (when Wonhee’s heart fluttered at Yeoju’s smile and Hyungwon stared at them in confusion).

“What’s this?” Wonhee asked, smiling at the girl. Yeoju bounced happily on the balls of her feet.

“I made you lunch,” she replied, bright and cheerful. Then, a little shyly, she added, “You looked like you were in a rush to work this morning, so I made you something small.”

“Oh, Yeoju -” she gasped, softly. “Thank you, that’s so sweet of you.”

The girl beamed.

Hyungwon looked between the two girls, eyebrow arched in curiosity.

“You have someone delivering food to you, now?” Hyungwon asked, teasingly. “How late did you wake up to have forgotten both your lunch _and_ your wallet?”

Before Wonhee could formulate a response to Hyungwon’s jab, Yeoju handed the lunchbox to her and huffed, loudly. It turned Hyungwon’s attention to her, immediately.

“Excuse me, mister supervisor, stop bullying her,” Yeoju said, frowning at Hyungwon.

Hyungwon furrowed his brows.

He paused, taken aback by the initial title.

“Who are you to tell me that?” he challenged, tone light and playful.

Yeoju smiled, proudly, hands on her hips.

“Wonhee’s girlfriend.”

(And when Yeoju looked at Wonhee for approval, eyes bright with hopefulness, the girl was much too shocked to react. She almost dropped the lunchbox in her hands. Her jaw dropped open and all she could do was helplessly nod.

_Yes, right. Girlfriend._

_Holy fuck.)_

 

 

 

“Were you waiting for me?”

Yeoju’s voice came from behind Wonhee. The older girl sat with her legs hanging off the side of the cliff. She turned her head, eyes meeting with the younger girl. Yeoju, as per usual, was sitting in the tree growing just near the edge of the cliff. She was looking down at Wonhee, small smile on her lips.

“Are you hoping that I was?” Wonhee asked, chuckling quietly. She turned her eyes back to the view, unable to resist the urging smile tugging at her lips. _Yeoju had that effect on her_.

“A little bit,” Yeoju admitted. Wonhee

When she hopped off the high branch of the tree, she landed on the ground with the soft _thud_ of her feet hitting the dirt. Then, with small steps, she walked over to where Wonhee was seated on the floor. Yeoju squatted down next to her.

There was a peaceful silence between them. There was an unreadable hesitance in the air.

Then, as gentle as the wind, Yeoju whispered, “So, were you?”

Wonhee pulled her legs up to her chest, resting her cheek against her knees as she turned to look at Yeoju. Silently, she glanced at the girl; a slow scanning gaze from Yeoju’s endearingly bare feet to her glimmering eyes.

“Yeah,” she admitted, softly. “I was. I was hoping you would come here, today.”

Yeoju fiddled with her fingers. There was a strange nervous air surrounding the girl. Wonhee was unfamiliar with Yeoju’s behaviour. She seemed unsettled.

“What’s wrong?”

Yeoju sighed, “I’m here every single day. I was afraid you wouldn’t want to see me after today.”

Wonhee blinked, “Why?”

The younger girl bit down on her lower lip, shy.

“I mean,” she started, “I told your supervisor that we were dating.”

“I’m okay with that, though,” she replied.

“So, I thought you wouldn’t want to talk to -” Yeoju blinked, finally registering Wonhee’s words, “Wait, you are?”

Wonhee laughed, softly.

“I am,” she said.

Yeoju seemed to be flustered; unable to formulate a response.

An adoring twinkle shone in Wonhee’s eyes, “You’re adorable and everything bright and positive someone could want in their life. I would be very lucky to be able to call someone my girlfriend.

“I’m only upset that you made the decision before I could ask you, formally,” Wonhee added.

Yeoju flushed, looking down at her hands, “Sorry - I must have been too hasty.”

Wonhee’s lips curved into a small smile. She giggled.

“Is that so?” she asked, teasingly. “Do you like me that much?”

Yeoju played with the hem of her dress, quickly looking away from Wonhee; _impossibly shy._

Wonhee leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to the younger girl’s cheek. Yeoju jumped, surprised. She turned her head, looking at Wonhee. That hopeful hesitance glittered in her eyes again.

“I like you, too, Yeoju,” she whispered. “And I would love to be your girlfriend, if you want it.”

And when Yeoju nodded her head with that angelic flush on her cheeks, the butterflies exploded in Wonhee’s chest. There was a thrill coursing through her veins when she rested her forehead against Yeoju’s and stared into her eyes.

_It seemed everything about Yeoju meant Wonhee’s life changed in favour of new beginnings._

_And with Yeoju, the once seemingly dull future seemed so much brighter._

_Just like the childish glimmer in Yeoju’s eyes._

**Author's Note:**

> hello yes i'm actually alive  
> i hope y'all enjoyed yes okay  
> and you can still find me on twitter @yuseokki c:


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